Lean on me: Photo ideas for the ones standing up with you on your big day

Groomsmen at the wedding of Sara and Garrett McMillan on Aug. 2, 2014. (Photo courtesy of Bella Bambino Photography)

The bridesmaids and groomsmen are assembled. Everyone looks great. Now for the important part: making sure your wedding party pictures are Pinterest gold.

Love in the age of planking and cat-breading has gently drifted away from the moorings of the more traditional everybody-line-up-and-smile photo-ops. Today's young couples are footloose and fun; they're breaking rank and coming up with some eminently share-worthy wedding day photo trends.

Laura Schumpert of Laura Mae Photography in Cape Girardeau finds the Pinterest culture to be helpful and frustrating.

"It's a problem in the photography world," she says. "It's good to find a style that works for somebody, but the problem is when people start asking me to copy specific picures. If it's a specific thing that they really want, then yes, I'll do it the best that I can, but what I more like to do is have them give me what they like and then I can help them get something entirely unique."

Aside from giving everyone a much-needed moment of respite from the grueling wedding day schedule, a wedding party's goofy photo-ops can be more telling than the usual shots and can make for dearer memories.

"There are two types," Schumpert says. "For one, you set up everything photography-wise first and then sort of coax them into a candid reaction, but there are also real moments where you have real people cracking up and you want to capture those as well."

Katie Blattel of Kate Blattel Photography in Cape Girardeau says one thing people sometimes do is a portrait before the ceremony of the bride and groom blindfolded to gently poke fun at wedding tradition.

"I haven't seen too many crazy things personally," she says, "But I do like the blindfolded ones and sometimes people jump in the air for a fun picture."

These photos are usually more tame than the scandalous and endearingly self-deprecating "my dress is caught in my underwear" pose that recently went viral. Blattel hasn't seen that one firsthand yet, but says people usually do something that expresses their personalities.

If flashing posterity isn't quite your thing, bathrobe-clad pre-makeup bridesmaid photos break up the formality. Spherical wedding balloons add a dreamy element to a bridesmaid lineup or some humor to a jumping shot. Or if the groomsmen are game, there's nothing better than a properly directed leaf blower for great rubber-cheeked candid shots of your best bros.

And Comic Con nerds: never fear! Quite possibly the award for most likeable wedding party photo goes to the dudes donning superhero T-shirts under their tuxedos for Clark Kent-inspired shirt-ripping poses.

It's one of the more elaborate setups, but the result is worth it. It's funny, personal and gives hope to the legions of other comic book nerds of the world. It proves that, yes, there are indeed women who find a guy in a superhero T-shirt attractive; dashing, even.

A little accessorizing and a good sense of humor really spice up a wedding album, so go nuts! And don't forget to share.